Isn’t it funny to think back when the first video game systems were thought of as the greatest technology? With all the types of systems to choose from, the earlier models are a joke in comparison to the new systems put out today. Although back in the day, these systems were very popular when they were first released to the public.

Magnavox Odyssey was the first video gaming system to be released in the U.S. Once called the brown box, from the prototype, a crude version of what was to become. This was completed in 1968. Odyssey gaming system, used cartridges that were to basically alter the circuits inside the game box.

Plastic sheets were needed to attach onto your television screen. These sheets added more graphics to use in conjunction to the images that the game system would project onto your screen. This was released in 1972.

The gaming systems usually went for about $100.00 and always sold over 100,000 units in their first year of production. Compared to standards today the beginning years were primitive, but this was the start of the home console gaming systems.

In 1972, Atari was founded by Nolan Bushnell. The name of this company was originally planned to be Syzygy. Since the name was already in use Atari was settled on for the company. A developer, Al Alcorn joined Atari and the game “Pong” originated. The popularity of this game was quite impressive when it went on sale in 1975 as a home version for Atari.

In 1976 and 1977 many games were released including some hand-held games. In 1976 Coleco got into the video game craze with their introduction of the Telstar. The Atari 2600 home game system was released in 1977 and an electronics baseball game in 1978 by Mattel. In 1979, a Microvision game that had cartridges to change the games was released by Milton Bradley. This was the first hand-held game that had cartridges that could be changed for different games.

Mattel in 1980 was ready to launch their response to Atari-the intellivision game system. The Nintendo at this time was on the horizons. Mario brothers came out in 1981 and the world was ready for something different. Popularity hit nearly instantly with this new release.

In 1981 Sega was yet another video gaming system that got in on the competition with the release of Turbo. This was one of the first driving video games that simulated reality. In comparison, the only driving game up to this point was Atari’s Night Driver and it was not nearly as realistic.

The Atari 5200 super system released in 1982, replaced Atari’s 2600 system. Atari’s intention was to have this system in competition with the intellivision, but in all reality it became Coleco’s competition. The 5200 was just not as big of a hit as they had hoped because there were many design flaws.

The early games and systems were not nearly as sophisticated as today’s. The arrival of the Nintendo systems, Play Station systems and the Xbox in 2001 made yesterday’s game little more than children’s toys. The Nintendo Wii and Xbox 360 are setting the trend for further technological advances today.

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The economy is facing a recession, but the sale of video games hasn’t been affected. In Early 2008, $1.7 billion was spent on video game products. Does this speak volumes of the future of the gaming industry? As new systems are released to the consumers, the consumers are buying them up quickly.

The beginning system that we were once happy with is a far cry from what new systems are like today. New systems today make the Magnavox odyssey seem like just a figment of people’s imagination. One day due to the technology we have today and the technology we will have in the near future, the new game systems like the PS3 and DS will suffer the same fate.

Not only kids play video games today. Millions of adults and people of all ages are playing video games. Video gaming used to be a pastime just for the younger male generation, but with the amazing graphics, people are now drawn to it.

While on the subject of graphics, the addition of motion sensitive controls is the latest craze we find in new video gaming systems. Removing all limits and focusing on the virtual reality world is the ultimate goal of videogame developers today. This will be the future of the video games.

A virtual reality experience instead of just a game is where it’s all headed in the game industry. Kind of like the holodeck we’ve seen in Star Trek. Virtually interacting with characters is now being explored. Most people would agree that it would be such a neat thing to have your own holodeck that will create scenarios for your enjoyment.

Currently, virtual reality research has shown limitations to the movements you can make while sitting in your living room. This is what the gaming industry is working on right now. Being able to read brain activity is one way to get around this. Don’t laugh; there was news in May 2008, that the scientists at Pittsburgh University had a real breakthrough in this area of development.

In May 2008, during a study they found that a monkey used its brain waves to control the robot’s arm. The robot’s arm was manipulated by brain waves that fed the monkey. With more research they found that the monkey can control the robot’s arm while controlling its own arm.

The precursor to virtual reality games for the home is using controls that are motion sensitive. Wearing a headset and controlling actions through brain waves is the idea behind this. It’s not improbable to happen in the near future. The speed of evolution within the gaming industry has been miraculous.

Games will eventually become a lot more realistic. The only issue that is holding back the gaming world from developing such a game is the cost to make the motion sensitive controls. The gaming manufacturers will not create a very expensive gaming system that consumers wouldn’t buy because they couldn’t or didn’t like the price.

People today are much more likely to play a game that mocks the actions of real life rather than using a controller. The future is unseen in the gaming world, but video gaming may surprise us all soon.

Have you noticed how much video games cost today? Some are real pricy. Games can cost as high as $100. This is just for one single game and think of how many games the average person owns for his or her gaming The more expensive games are usually the new releases. How can you save cash on buying these games that you like to play?

You can of course rent the games instead of buying them, the movie rental stores offer this service. This lets you try the game out before buying it, this way you don’t have to keep a game you don’t enjoy. Because they cost so much you don’t need to spend too much money for a game that you may not like to play.

In addition, there are video game stores that just rent the games and the systems. This allows a choice of renting on a casual basis or joining and paying a monthly price. Some of these stores will run specials that allow you to keep the game for so long for one price. This gives you the option of having several days to check out the game before you have to return it to the store.

Many of these stores also have previously played games for sale. This is a much cheaper alternative to buying them brand new. They guarantee the games as well so if something happens that it will not work, you can always take it back and exchange for another.

There are also online rental clubs that you can join and they will send you the games of your choice each month. One of the advantages to this system is most charge a monthly fee, ship the game to you and you can keep it until you are ready for another. All you have to do is send the game back and another is automatically sent to you.

With a bit of looking you can find other methods for getting video games cheaper than buying the games new. Check out your pawn shops that are near you. Many will need cash and pawn their games intending on getting them out of hock, but can’t. A pawn shop then sells the games at inexpensive prices offering you a bargain.

Other great places to find games and systems at discounted prices are thrift stores and flea markets. You can even do price haggling at the flea markets to get the price down even more. Even if you don’t get the exact price you want it will still be lower than new. Most of the flea market booth owners will have their products marked with prices that are much less than the new ones even when they are still in original packaging.

There are also online clubs for video gamers. This can be another way of exchanging or buying games that you may want to try. This is another option of finding ones you have already played and know you want to add to your collection without paying an expensive price. This is an excellent way of finding older games as well.